One of the most used forms of icing for cake decorating is buttercream icing. Buttercream icing is known to be soft and fluffy, perfect for adding a finishing flair to cakes, however, whilst you may use it on a regular basis, you may not know how it is made and what it is best to use for.
What is buttercream icing?
Bakers love buttercream icing, this is no secret. Delicious and versatile, it is a go-to type of icing for those who want to finish off their cake or cookie. It is made, as the name suggests by combining butter and icing sugar. This means that it is not only easy to make, but it is very hard to get it wrong. Ideal if you are new to baking. The other great thing about buttercream icing is that you can tailor the colour or flavour to exactly what you want.
You can also combine it with other forms of icing, bringing them together in order to make a beautiful and completely finished cake. The possibilities really are endless when it comes to buttercream.
How to use buttercream icing
One of the biggest benefits of using buttercream icing is that it is all about taste. Whilst it may seem similar to royal icing, there are some major differences that you need to keep in mind. Royal icing is incredibly sweet and will harden quickly, whilst buttercream will retain the soft and fluffy nature.
The main use for buttercream icing is to frost cakes and cookies. It can be piped from a bag in order to create a wide range of designs and you can achieve different looks by changing the ratio of ingredients that you use when making the icing.
Another use is to stick together the layers of cake when you are creating a multi-layer cake with a filling, as well as smoothing a thin layer on top of a cake in order to stick any fondant icing that you want to apply.
